Holyoke welcomes Canitz, Pagola as exchange students

    Two exchange students, Marvin Canitz and Julia Pagola, have started classes at Holyoke High School this year.  From Germany and Spain, the two students are finding many differences in America.
    
Marvin Canitz
    Canitz, 17, from Berlin, Germany, said he wanted to come to the United States to improve his English and see how others live. The senior is staying with Zach and Shanda McAllister. Their son, Matt Yost, is a senior at HHS. Canitz has found everyone here friendly, open and helpful.
    Canitz has noticed that many people in America connect to sports. Everyone asks him about sports, and it is an easy topic for him to talk about with others. He is playing football for the Dragons this season and plans to participate in basketball and either baseball or track and field.
    He said he is interested in studying the contrast in the view of world history from a different perspective. His classes at HHS include American history, government, English, trigonometry, accounting, biology and weights.
    His father is a manager at an office supply company, and his mother is a biology assistant. He has one sister who is 15.
    
Julia Pagola
    Coming from Navarra, a small town in northern Spain, Pagola said studying in the United States has been a childhood dream. Also, she is interested in improving her English.
    Pagola is staying with Bret and Lori Kramer and their two daughters. She has already noticed many cultural differences, and high school is very different here, she said. There are no sports programs in her school; however, she notices the importance placed on sports here.
    A junior, Pagola is studying American literature, American history, trigonometry, physics, catering, choir and band. She has played the saxophone since she was very young. She would also like to join the swim team this year.
    Her father works in a factory, while her mother is a pediatrician. She has two older sisters, ages 21 and 26. Pagola said she is looking forward to being here this year, but she does miss her family.